Sidel has announced that its actis™ (amorphous carbon treatment on internal surface) plasma coating solution for extending the shelf life of pet bottles is now available for the company’s latest gener

The barrier technology was among the major focuses from
Sidel at Brau Beviale 2016 in Hall 7a, booth 223.

Carbonated soft drinks (CSD) were very much the focus for Sidel
at a show which is one of Europe's main platforms for innovations
in beverage production. CSD category presents its own challenges in
terms of packaging: one such challenge is the need to reduce the
loss of carbon dioxide, particularly given the trend towards
smaller and lighter bottles. The smaller and lighter the container,
the greater the challenge of reduced shelf life. The single-serve
format in PET packaging represents 75% of the growth in the CSD
market so barrier technologies, such as Actis, are expected to be
increasingly employed in CSD bottling.

Sidel Actis is a thin layer of hydrogen rich carbon deposited
inside a PET bottle - a plasma coating solution to extend beverage
shelf life while offering potential for packaging lightweighting.
At Brau Beviale, Sidel highlighted how Actis equipment is now
offered on the Sidel Matrix platform, Sidel's latest modular format
which delivers a high level of safety and consistency down the
complete line. This includes the Sidel Matrix Combi, meaning that
this barrier technology is now available in an integrated
configuration, which can include blowing and coating, or blowing,
coating and filling, in one unique and safe environment. The Combi
Actis solution can be integrated in bottling lines or converter
lines. By avoiding intermediary conveyors, it provides customers
with all the benefits that Sidel has been able to consolidate over
the years of development including production reliability, bottle
integrity, handling of lightweight containers, compact footprint
and easy operation.

Through Sidel Matrix, Actis technology can increase shelf life
by a factor of 3 depending on bottle lightweighting improvements,
while offering process reliability and increased uptime along the
production line. With excellent accessibility, treatment modules
benefit from enhanced flexibility with easy changeovers and the
capability to undertake maintenance off-line. The Sidel Actis
solution has been optimised for bottle diameters of up to 78 mm,
with a typical output of up to 40,000 bottles per hour.

Damien Fournier is Category Marketing Director CSD at Sidel and
an expert of the Actis solution. He comments - "In terms of the
barrier technologies available, the Actis coating clearly stands
out from other processes like co-injection (multilayer) or plastic
blends (chemical additives to improve the properties of PET), when
material cost, lightweighting and recyclability are considered.
Actis process is also simpler and less expensive than other coating
technologies, because it is based on acetylene gas - widely
available on the market - rather than requiring complex
concentrates and settings. The maintenance frequency and time
involved to keep the line up to speed are similar to that required
for a standard bottling line."

Pawel Warszawski, Sales Director DACH, Central & Eastern
Europe and Russia & CIS at Sidel, continues - "In terms of
general market trends, there is a move towards an increased use of
barrier solutions to match new markets and new ways of consuming
beverages. In developed countries, protecting the beverage - and
therefore the brand - is a particular focus. Additionally, barrier
PET solutions are applied in beverages supplied for music
festivals, sporting events and other outdoor occasions, for
example. Here large numbers are enjoying themselves and drinking,
so glass and other containers are seen as safety hazards. PET
bottles are the preferred packaging format because they do not
readily break and even when crushed there are no harmful shards or
sharp edges. On the other hand, in developing countries, affordable
packaging with extended shelf life enables producers to reach new
consumers, coping with distribution challenges under difficult
conditions and in remote locations. To date, 28 Actis systems have
been introduced globally, from Europe to the Americas and Asia,
accounting for around 5 billion bottles produced across all the
main beverage categories requiring barrier protection, including
beer, tea and coffee and CSD - an area where there is particular
growth in demand."

Damien further comments: "With Actis technology now available
for the Sidel Matrix platform, we are already seeing growing
interest in an offer which combines the broad, proven and
upgradeable system that is Sidel Matrix with a solution which
provides significant opportunities for extending shelf life and
bottle lightweighting."

Continuing the CSD theme, Sidel used Brau Beviale to discuss its
latest developments in complete line solutions for CSD
applications. Variety, flexibility and cost-efficiency are
essential to the success in this sector of the market. With the
Sidel Matrix system, Sidel challenges the limits of what one system
is capable of, providing more possibilities in the four key areas
of line flexibility, product integrity, production efficiency and
consumption reduction.

In addition to innovations in equipment and technologies, the
company also highlighted to visitors the importance of Sidel
Services™, a complete portfolio helping producers increase the
value of their beverage production, lower energy consumption and
optimise production efficiency and sustainability.